When a Man Loves

OK, I admit it, it makes me completely glad they were all guillotined.

This transitional silent is really a visual work of art. I say transitional because it is one of Warner Brothers first Vitaphone films back when Warners was still using sound just to bring sound effects and synchronized music to silents. No talking was going on yet.

The location is 18th century France about 20 years before the French Revolution. Our protagonists are a young man of aristocratic descent who is studying for the priesthood, Chevalier Fabien des Grieux (John Barrymore) and the unfortunate Manon Lescaut (Delores Costello). She's unfortunate because she actually trusts her brother (Warner Oland) who has two alternate plans for her - either sell her to the highest bidder to help him continue his gambling habit, or dispose of her in a nunnery. Fabien overhears the brother's plotting, rescues Manon, and the two flee to Paris. Because the brother found an aristocratic buyer for his sister's companionship he won't give up so easy on retrieving his meal ticket. A week after the young lovers have arrived in Paris, he finds Manon and convinces her that it is best for Fabien if she leaves him so he can return to his studies for the priesthood and regain his father's good graces.

What follows is a remarkable adventure with Fabien first losing and then regaining his faith in Manon, him turning from the studying for the priesthood to gambling as a profession, and a turn of treachery by Manon's discarded former protector/consort that has them both destined for a life of slavery in Louisiana.

The focus and sympathy are kept on the two young lovers for several reasons. For one, the actors themselves have remarkable chemistry - they were actually married for several years - and also, they are the only two members of the cast that don't resemble grotesque gargoyles. The poor of Paris are shown as disheveled, greasy, drunken, and ready to assault any maiden that crosses their paths. The aristocracy of Paris are shown as decadent, perfumed, powdered and rouged to the point of looking like corpses, and also ready to assault any maiden that crosses their paths. Thus even in pre-revolutionary France the poor and rich seem to have at least one thing in common.

The cruel twists of fate could make long stretches of this movie a bit of a downer if it were not for the fun of watching Barrymore in his prime playing - at various times - the protector, the swashbuckler, the broken-hearted when he loses Manon, ecstatic when he gets her back. Plus Barrymore could say more with a roll of his eyes or a gesture than many actors could say with an entire soliloquy. Highly recommended.

Before John Barrymore left for United Artist, he had one last movie to make to fulfill his three-picture contract with Warner Brothers. He starred along with his future wife Dolores Costello in February 1927's "When a Man Loves," a period piece based on Abbe Prevost's 1731 novel Manon Lescaut.

Warner Brothers continued with its experimentation into sound films with "When a Man Loves," the studio's third disc-on-sound Vitaphone picture. At its February 4, 1927 premier, the New York City theater audience failed to pay attention to the empty musical pit usually filled with an orchestra. So crisp was the music coming out of the house's speakers they completely forgot about the lack of musicians. Just as the film concluded, there appeared a brief 15-second clip of the Vitaphone Symphony Orchestra with its conductor on the screen. It was then the patrons realized all the music was pre-recorded and synchronized to the movie. They went nuts.

The story of Manon Lescaut has been retold several times since the good Abbé first wrote it. It's a tragedy with all sorts of moral overtones, what with the Chevalier besotted by his love for the gold digging Manon who nonetheless loves him back in her own way. This film version is somewhat faithful to the original albeit considerably cleaned up for us puritanical Americans. Already a shocker when it was first published in 1731 many of the sordid details, especially Manon's prostitution, was barely hinted at and the tragic ending completely left out. What's left is a period drama with considerable posturing and glaring, great costumes and great production values. The first half is rather slow and drawn out. With Manon's prostitution left out it's a little difficult to evoke the emotions needed to connect a viewer to a show. But once she's arrested and sentenced to the colonies the film takes off with a bang. From then on it's a roller-coaster ride, lots of action, pathos, drama. It never lets up. This part makes the whole thing worth seeing. One last thing: I'm a fan of Drew Barrymore and it was kind of fun to see her grandparents together on the screen. I sure hope she continues the dynasty.

"This medal, sent by the Bishop himself, will protect you against temptations of the flesh."

Haha, that sure lasted a long time. This is an epic period drama, 1927 style, (very loosely) based on the 18th century novel Manon Lescaut, and stars John Barrymore and Dolores Costello. It's got about everything you might want in such a film - romance, costumes, swashbuckling, and general adventure. It's 111 minutes long which can sometimes be painful in a silent film given the era's slower pace, but this one moved along pretty well and had many entertaining scenes.

Early on, the pure-hearted characters (the young people who fall for each other at first sight, Barrymore and Costello) seem to be contrasted with people wise to the ways of the world (a scheming brother, lecherous Comte, and even a winking maid, Marcelle Corday). However, these "pure" characters enjoy a blissful carnal relationship despite not being married, something that wouldn't have been possible under the Production Code seven years later. Barrymore's character is also good at cheating at cards, kills a man, and leads an insurrection. Between these things and his tender moments with Costello, like the one where he steams up the screen by slowly leaning down to kiss her, we get an interesting, three-dimensional person. Costello's character is not really afforded that same luxury, existing mostly to be lusted over by a string of powerful men, including the Comte, the King, and even the captain of convict ship. Barrymore fends off the men trying to assail her as they come, channeling Douglas Fairbanks at times. The pair's chemistry is undeniable, and they would marry in real life a year later (hey, these are Drew Barrymore's grandparents we're watching here).

What made the film for me were the scenes with unsavory characters, like when Barrymore enters the subterranean den of iniquity (and then orders a glass of milk for the cat). While the court of Louis XV and the gambling salon filled with powdered wigs and polite society appear very different, the leers and knowing glances in those places were nice parallels to the earlier scene. We also get saucy prostitutes being rounded up with for deportation to that far-away colony called Louisiana, and a cage full of prisoners who Barrymore incites like a deranged monkey. There is a darkness to its ending too, at least for those aboard the ship, where we see women being thrown over the shoulders of a fearsome bunch of marauding criminals (apparently Myrna Loy was one of those aboard!). Overall, it's a tad melodramatic but the energy at the end and the fun I had along the way had me rounding my review score up.

French nobleman Fabian des Grieux (John Barrymore) is training for the priesthood. However, he comes to the rescue of the beautiful Manon Lescaut (Dolores Costello), whose brother André (Warner Oland) is trying to sell her to Comte Guillot de Morfontaine (Sam De Grasse).

This is pretty long for a silent film at 110 minutes, but it goes by very quickly. Barrymore is excellent (if a tad melodramatic), and Dolores Costello is radiant. Warner Oland is entertaining as the slimy brother, and Sam De Grasse is good as the villain. There's a good sword fight, and the production design and costumes are fantastic. An uncredited Myrna Loy can be seen briefly towards the end.

First time viewing. 4/5